Published patent application WO2008/139360A1 discloses a method and a system for controlling a lighting system. A remote controller is used to measure the influence of one or more light sources at different positions in, for example, an office. These measurements are stored in a central controller and are used to control, later on, the light emission of the light sources of the lighting system to obtain a specific lighting pattern in the office. In an embodiment, the light sources of the lighting system may transmit their light source identifier (ID) coded in the light that is emitted by the light source. The remote controller is capable of extracting the light source ID from the received light, and the remote controller characterizes other features of the received light. The obtained information is transmitted to the central controller for storage in the central controller and for later use when the central controller has to control the lighting system to obtain the specific lighting pattern.
The remote controller may send a user request to the central controller to obtain a specific light pattern at a specific location. The central controller may subsequently control the light sources of the lighting system and the controlling is based on the earlier obtained measurements.
In an embodiment, the remote controller is capable of directly communicating with the light sources of the lighting system for directly controlling the light sources. Thus, besides the controlling of the light sources via the central controller, the lighting system of the cited patent application also comprises a traditional coded light subsystem wherein the remote controller is capable of directly controlling one or more the light sources.
In the discussed coded light subsystem, and the traditional coded light systems, a huge risk of mixing-up remote controllers exists. If different remote controllers are present in the same room, each one of the remote controllers may receive the information from the light source and may provide control commands to the light source of which the light source identifier is received. For example, if the system of the cited patent application is used in an office, a remote controller may be present at each one of the desks for controlling the light at the respective desks. These remote controllers may also be used to receive information of each one of the light sources of the lighting system and as such the remote controllers may be used to control each one of the light sources. However, this is not desirable in, for example, the office, as each employee may desire a different setting at their desks.